Watching her teammates practice from the sidelines on Oct. 18, sophomore forward Cacie Pope looked down at her heavily wrapped ankle and smiled.

Although the injury kept her out of practice, this was only a mild tendon sprain in her left foot.

The Lakewood, Calif., native had reasons to smile.

Two years removed from a brain tumor that nearly jeopardized her life, this ankle sprain doesn’t amount to much.

“I’m just glad to be back and be with my team,” she said.

During her freshman year on the Hill, Pope began a battle she didn’t know she would have to fight. She experienced a seizure in October 2003 in her dorm room. She was rushed to The Medical Center of Bowling Green so the cause of her episode could be assessed.

After several tests, doctors concluded she had a mass on the lower left part of her brain that would have to be removed.

She returned home to California a week later to have surgery.

“I couldn’t think because I was in such shock,” said Cacie’s mother, Cheryl. “Our entire family was numb.”

After a successful operation, Pope was back at Western in January 2004 to resume her life as a student athlete.

Pope remained confident even though doctors told her there was no guarantee the tumor wouldn’t return.

“I pretty much told myself it wasn’t coming back,” she said.

She was wrong.

Pope returned to the team last year, and contributed to the team during the first nine games of the season.

This time, a seizure came during class in January. And just as quickly as the previous year, she was rushed home to California to discover the news: she would need another operation and would miss the rest of the season.

“I downplayed the situation and told myself it wasn’t as serious as it was,” she said. “Basketball and school was always the first thing on my mind.”

In January, Pope had her second successful operation in 14 months.

Pope’s teammates were never far as she recovered at home. Before every game, the team would call her on speakerphone to allow her to listen to coach Mary Taylor Cowles’ pregame speech.

Sophomore guard Charlotte Marshall said the team sent her a scrapbook and mailed her pictures every week so she could keep up with the team.

“She’s one of my closest friends,” Marshall said. “I had never dealt with anything like what she was going through. We just wanted her to know we were always thinking about her.”

Despite two surgeries and the potential for the tumor to resurface, Pope knew exactly where she wanted to be.

Cheryl Pope knew how much basketball meant to her daughter, but she wanted Cacie to stay in California, near her family.

“I asked her to move home,” Cheryl Pope said, “but I knew it was a no-go. I respect and appreciate that because Western is where she wants to be.”

Cacie Pope returned again to Western and started practicing with the team in May.

“My mom knew I wasn’t coming home,” Pope said. “It never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t play basketball here again.”

As the season opener approaches on Nov. 19 against Louisiana Tech, Pope isn’t focused on anything but helping her team.

“If I’m alive and capable of doing it, nothing is going to hold me back.”

Nothing, especially a sprained ankle.

Reach Jake Mitchell
at sports@wkuherald.com.